Valar Guild

April 19, 2020 Sunday Meeting

5:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Savings Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place

Back to News
Transcript work by Varda.
[times are Central Time from Varda's Discord. Add one hour for Eastern.]
["slight smile" is the same as we are used to using as a regular smiley]

Attending (and spoke): (5)
    Discord: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Lenwe, Varda (presiding)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news
Web:
    Tolkien Site / Stories:
        New story posted today: "A Matter of Time" by Shirebound.
Gaming:
    General reports: Lord of the Rings Online, World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm
Tolkien:
    Topic 1: As the Valar Guild, sometimes we needed reminded of who the Valar were.
    Topic 2: Gandalf could have flown to Mordor on an eagle and dropped it from the air directly into Mount Doom from the air
but for some reasons this did not happen the easy way
After-meeting:
    Flashgaming Reviews by Ar-Pharazon.
    Blizzard gaming, plus Total Annihilation, WoW discussion.
top

Before-meeting

Eonwe Valar04/17/2020
Heya all.
I said I would get 200 Shreds of Insanity before I hit Honor level 80, but now I'm not so sure, heh. I got to about 140, and all of a sudden it's like someone turned off a spigot. I haven't got any from HKs in the last several BGs. Anyone else had a similar experience?

Eonwe ValarYesterday at 3:32 AM
Heya all. Looks like they're extending the exp buff through to the Shadowlands pre-patch, so now is the best time to get all those Classy Guild Achievements for our Lothar branch if you want to make a character there, or if you already have one and just haven't pushed to 120 :}

VardaToday at 3:57 PM
Good to hear about the exp buff. May it help!
Aiya!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:00 PM
Aiya!
VardaToday at 4:00 PM
It's that time again, the time to be alarm clocks.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:02 PM
Arien poked
VardaToday at 4:04 PM
Thanks
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:05 PM
Heya all.
LenweToday at 4:05 PM
Aiya
VardaToday at 4:05 PM
Eonwe! Good to see you.
Yay, Lenwe made it!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:05 PM
Aiya Eonwe and Lenwe!
VardaToday at 4:06 PM
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Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
Membership:
Lots of crazy scheduling for everyone. Makes for interesting attempts at getting together, sometimes better than usual.
Anything you'd like to bring up about membership, stuff going on on your end of things?
LenweToday at 4:07 PM
Not much happening here. Quarantined as usual :wink:
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:07 PM
Yeah, staying in a lot...
Catching up on some stuff
Trying to collect as many movies and tv shows with an actress I like...
* as I can
VardaToday at 4:08 PM
Sounds fun. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:08 PM
It's an interesting scavenger hunt at times
VardaToday at 4:08 PM
Hope Lenwe is getting to game more, watch some good shows too.
Maybe we can make the best of it and get some good gaming in.
LenweToday at 4:10 PM
I watched Star Wars Episode I with my daughter last night, if that counts :slight_smile: She loved Jar-Jar...
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:10 PM
Someone has to :smile:
VardaToday at 4:10 PM
heh
LenweToday at 4:10 PM
haha! Right.
VardaToday at 4:10 PM
He seemed intended for the younger folk.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:10 PM
I feel the same about Olaf in Frozen.
VardaToday at 4:10 PM
I just wanted to see him progress. Would have been nice.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:10 PM
Can't really stand the little guy myself but I'm glad he's liked anyway :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 4:11 PM
On to
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Web:
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:11 PM
Well if the theories are believed, he did progress,... to a Dark Lord of the Sith, lol :}
VardaToday at 4:11 PM
You might enjoy the new story by Shirebound, four chapters.
That was a fun one, Eonwe!
and Obi-wan is the real father of the twins... ; )
but back to the Web story,
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:12 PM
It all makes sense now.
VardaToday at 4:12 PM
"A Matter of Time" by Shirebound:
http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/fiction/authors/Shirebound/AMatterofTime01.htm
    A Matter of Time ch.1 "Prologue"
    fanfiction Fellowship of the Rings. "
    "Why did Elrond choose Legolas and Gimli to accompany Frodo and Sam on their journey south? And what influenced his decision to let Pippin go with them? Merry gets a surprising answer."

(Hey, the twins looked a bit short to belong to Vader!)
Moving on (sort of)
top

Gaming!
Eonwe, would you like to have this shiny gavel for this section? : )
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:14 PM
Sure :}
VardaToday at 4:14 PM
passes it over
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:15 PM

Lord of the Rings Online:
Update 25.4.5 came out this week.  ---https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?679493-Update-25-4-5-Release-Notes
VardaToday at 4:15 PM
Lord of the Rings Online weekly people:

Landroval server:
Aranuir
Arien
Bregalad
Eonwe
Erkenbrand
Fangorn
Hurin
Irmo
Miriel
Nar
Nimrodel
Varda

Ithil server:
Dis
Falco
Fangorn
Varda

Anor server:
Varda
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:15 PM

World of Warcraft:
Blizzard is extending the EXP buff through to the Shadowlands Pre-patch, and adding on a reputation buff from April 20th through May 18th.  --- https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23355424/the-winds-of-wisdom-100-experience-buff-extended --- https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23391284/exalt-in-the-impressive-influence-100-bonus-reputation-buff-april-20-may-18
    World of Warcraft
    The Winds of Wisdom 100% Experience Buff Extended!  - WoW
    Due to the popularity of the Winds of Wisdom 100% experience buff in Battle for Azeroth, we’re extending its benefit through to the release of the Shadowlands pre-patch!
    World of Warcraft
    Exalt in the Impressive Influence 100% Bonus Reputation Buff: April...
    Do you have your eye on unlocking an Allied Race, learning to fly in Battle for Azeroth, or adding a new pet or mount to your collection? To help you reach your goals, we’ve made it easier to increase your reputation with the     Impressive Influence buff.

So here's a good chance to help us get those "Classy" Achievements done on Lothar :} We need almost everything :}
Check out the preview on Torghast coming in Shadowlands. --- https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23389553/shadowlands-preview-torghast-tower-of-the-damned
    World of Warcraft
    Shadowlands Preview: Torghast, Tower of the Damned - WoW
    World of Warcraft: Shadowlands introduces a variety of new adventures for players to undertake, including Torghast, Tower of the Damned. Explore its ever-changing halls and chambers and do battle with the minions of the Jailer,     Torghast’s vile ruler, to claim legendary treasur...

Now available in Classic: Zul'Gurub. coming in Shadowlands.  --- https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23391283/wow-classic-zul-gurub-and-more-now-available
    World of Warcraft
    WoW Classic: Zul’Gurub and More Now Available! - WoW
    Many new activities and adventures are now available in WoW Classic as the gates open to the ancient troll city of Zul’Gurub, the emerald Dragons of Nightmare arrive, the insidious Silithid begin to stir, and the Stranglethorn Vale     Fishing Extravaganza summons Azeroth’s angler...

Heroes of the Storm:
A new blog is out: The new Nexus Anomaly teaches Towers and Cores to be better teammates. --- https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/heroes-of-the-storm/23391375/the-new-nexus-anomaly-teaches-towers-and-cores-to-be-better-teammates
    The new Nexus Anomaly teaches Towers and Cores to be better teammates
    We called on game designers Gu and Adam Z. Jackson for the details on the second Nexus Anomaly, "A Call for Help."
And I believe the Dark Nexus II Event is going, or should be soon.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:18 PM
It's going.
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:19 PM
Thanks.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:19 PM
I think.
The background has changed, I think the new skins are in.
But no new quests...
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:20 PM
Here we go...
https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/heroes-of-the-storm/23367314/fragments-of-the-dark-nexus-dates-and-details
    Fragments of the Dark Nexus: Dates & Details
    With Deathwing setting his sights on the uncontrolled power held within, the swirling chaos of the Dark Nexus once again threatens all of creation.
So it's going.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:21 PM
Yeah, no mention of quests.
Might be a smaller event.
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:23 PM
Yeah, doesn't look like anything specific to the "event."
Anyway, that's it for gaming news I have.
VardaToday at 4:24 PM
Thank you, Eonwe.

Does anyone else have news for their games?
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:25 PM
More Shadowlands alpha stuff :wink:
VardaToday at 4:25 PM
For Lord of the Rings, we've seen an uptick in kinmates. Most notably Irmo, Miriel, and Hurin have been in LotRO Landroval quite a bit.
Go ahead, Phar.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:27 PM
Well, that's pretty much the summary. Some more models, icons, items, lots of smaller things...
few class changes
oh, and a new character creation screen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45qollRW3lw for those interested
    YouTube
    MMO-Champion
    Shadowlands - New Character Creation Screen
VardaToday at 4:27 PM
Those character creation screens tend to be nearly a game themselves, for a lot of games. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:27 PM
yep :smile:
VardaToday at 4:28 PM
On to
top

Tolkien!
As the Valar Guild, sometimes we needed reminded of who the Valar were.
We mostly remember the ones higher in the hierarchy, but there were many others.
Some of the top Maiar approached the power of a Vala.
The difference was that the Valar tended to be the more creative leaders and the Maiar would pick one or more Valar to work with.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:30 PM
posse
VardaToday at 4:30 PM
It was not a master/slave idea.
There you go. : )
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:30 PM
They're those obstructionists stopping us from all being united under Melkor's perfect order, aren't they?
VardaToday at 4:30 PM
And more than one, like Gandalf, if desired, or a switch.
heh, yep.
So just in general as a reminder, what does "Aratar" mean?
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:31 PM
One of the top nobs, was it? :wink:
the 8
The greatest. The leaders. The ones who had the widest domains.
VardaToday at 4:31 PM
Right, because Morgoth was dropped.
Manwë and Varda, Ulmo, Yavanna and Aulë, Mandos, Nienna, and Oromë.
Another way the Valar were looked at was by the ones considered "Lords" and "Queens".
Oddly, the only one ever referred to as a king is Manwe.
They did not call the Lords the Kings as they did with those Valie.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:33 PM
Like chess.
Can get multiple queens but only one king.
VardaToday at 4:33 PM
A thought.
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:34 PM
You might think "Aratar" = "Ar atar" => "High Father" but no, it's actually from the extended stem or "Ar", "Arat" => "Arata" singular, meaning "High/Noble Ones" or, as defined in the SIlmarillion "The Exalted".
VardaToday at 4:35 PM
Thanks Eonwe. Nice pile of info in one spot there!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:36 PM
Exalted.
Maximum reputation with Eru.
Or with the Elves :slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:36 PM
hehe
VardaToday at 4:36 PM
The Lords and Queens had a hierarchy order too, maybe just what you said. Hopefully the two align.
The Lords of the Valar in order are Manwë, Ulmo, Aulë, Oromë, Mandos, Lórien, and Tulkas.
The Queens of the Valar in order are Varda, Yavanna, Nienna, Estë, Vairë, Vána, and Nessa.
The pairs tended to be together at their spots in the hierarchy.
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:38 PM
"Lords and Ladies"  probably did not convey what Tolkien was trying to convey well enough, and he might not have wanted to always be calling Manwë "High-King of the Valar"?
VardaToday at 4:39 PM
Maybe so. He did manage to work  out the concept for Aragorn, eventually, however.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:39 PM
And several elves, I believe.
VardaToday at 4:40 PM
It was the elves telling us this stuff, so they may have translated into their own way of thinking.
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:40 PM
From an in-universe perspective, that is also possible.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:40 PM
The linguistics might not line up well anyway, in-universe.
They might have a different word between king and lord.
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:41 PM
Though they had no problem with Ingwë as High-King of all Elves, with each group having their own king as well.
VardaToday at 4:41 PM
heh, aye
And then the problem may have been the multiple meanings for Lady. Wife, head of household, or nobility up to Queen.
Then to muddle things a bit, we heard of the earlier musings by JRR Tolkien, so we heard of those that were going to be considered Valar or high members of the Valar but dropped or changed later.
The Lost Valar, we call them.
One such being Eonwe, here in our channel chatting so maybe not completely lost.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:43 PM
Valar of time, lost in time.
VardaToday at 4:44 PM
Some Valar were perhaps just not relevant to the story he was trying to tell, the Times might have been some of those.
Unfortunately (maybe) we don't have the names of any of the "lesser" Valar.
ArienValarToday at 4:45 PM
Aiya all :slight_smile:
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:45 PM
Aiya!
VardaToday at 4:45 PM
Aiya Sunshine. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:45 PM
My poke took long to get there :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 4:45 PM
And there's another. Arien was at one time a Valie, as a daughter of Valar, but
ArienValarToday at 4:46 PM
i actually missed that ^^
VardaToday at 4:46 PM
the story changed so that the immortal Valar did not have children.
Oopsie. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:46 PM
Might get too many otherwise.
VardaToday at 4:46 PM
Glad you made it.
ArienValarToday at 4:46 PM
thanks :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 4:46 PM
Aye, a problem for the truly Deathless is overrunning their territory.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:46 PM
Reminds me of a snippet from a story I came up with some years ago.
VardaToday at 4:47 PM
Of course the Void is realllly big.
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:47 PM
Melian shows they had the capacitiy, just perhaps not the inclination.
VardaToday at 4:47 PM
You can send in a short story too. ; )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:47 PM
Actually part of a creation myth for a fictional MMO :wink:
VardaToday at 4:47 PM
The Melian angle is interesting.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:48 PM
big cosmic serpent visits a world of mortals, up to mischief... links his power to some of the leaders to watch them become gods and sow some chaos
VardaToday at 4:48 PM
Thanks for bringing that one up. She was a Maia, so the Valar surely could have too.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:48 PM
But the gods multiply and his strength is completely drained!
Anyway, sorry for that tangent :stuck_out_tongue:
VardaToday at 4:49 PM
Sounds as if he might be a Maia of Morgoth. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:49 PM
Maybe it was only possible for the Ainur to multiply with the Children?
heh, indeed
As by result, the offspring would be part of the Children as well, so wouldn't bloat the pantheon.
VardaToday at 4:49 PM
We only hear about the high-profile stuff like Melian and Thingol. Maybe Bombadil...
But there might have been lesser "incidents", good for fan fic. : )
We barely hear about the elf/human cross for Imrahil's line. Was that truly the only one?
But I'll leave that to the fan fic folk. : )
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:51 PM
The only one important to the story, heh.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:51 PM
You could pose that only the highprofile stuff is mentioned, but then again, it's possible that the elves would only hang out with the high-profile humans  :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 4:51 PM
Right. If not relevant to the storyline, it didn't get much mention.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:52 PM
But you never know, where peoples mingle...
VardaToday at 4:52 PM
True. Also we know they saw the problems like Finrod was discussing with Andrade.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:52 PM
might be some halfsilvan/halfbeornings
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:52 PM
It may be a choice on the part of the Elves to, as a rule, avoid such entanglements, once they realized what such a union would entail.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:53 PM
(and that's how night elf druids were made)
VardaToday at 4:53 PM
Heh.

In other stuff not quite on the level of Balrog wings,
Arien has a topic to bring up for us. : )
Go ahead!
ArienValarToday at 4:55 PM
Well apparently it is an old topic and was discussed a long time ago , but i can't remember i :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 4:55 PM
Time to bring it out again, then.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:56 PM
Like goldfish, we swim around the bowl, and by the time we've come around, we've forgotten last time..
ArienValarToday at 4:56 PM
A guildie gave a  "fast track" plot of Lord of the Rings .plot . Gandalf could have flown to Mordor on an eagle and dropped it from the air directly into Mount Doom from the air
but for some reasons this did not happen the easy way
VardaToday at 4:58 PM
We do know the Great Eagles did go to Mordor to pick up Frodo and Sam. Was there some reason they did not go earlier?
What had to happen before they could go there?
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:58 PM
Wraiths on wings!
VardaToday at 4:58 PM
Aye, that's one.
ArienValarToday at 4:58 PM
instead take a wildly inexperienced almost anti - hero walk through bog and den   over the mountains x times in circles and almost betrayed
VardaToday at 4:59 PM
He was supposed to travel with Aragorn (and others), the greatest woodsman and tracker.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:59 PM
Well, it was more stealthy, for sure.
But imagine the battles that could've been prevented if they'd just flown there sooner.
The lives that would've been saved.
VardaToday at 5:00 PM
Eagles didn't want to fly near anyone with bows. This was mentioned when they had to be careful of taking lambs from shepherds.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:00 PM
Sauron would've definitely known something was up if a giant eagle flew his way.
VardaToday at 5:00 PM
Aye, Sauron was kept back from Frodo by misdirection. The Eagles would have been easily seen.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:01 PM
And considering his symbol is the "Lidless Eye" I think it's safe to say he'd see that eagle coming from a long ways away.
Every now and then, the most direct route is not a straight line :}
VardaToday at 5:02 PM
The eagles weren't just any old flying mount birds, either. They were of Manwe, keeping an eye on the forces of evil aka Morgoth for him.
A straight line plus a cliff is an oops.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:03 PM
Would the eagles actually have been allowed to interfere?
VardaToday at 5:03 PM
The Valar were not supposed to directly involve themselves, but to help by sending advising Maia with lowered powers.
*Maiar
Even lessened memories.
The Great Eagles did become involved at the final battle at the gates, fighting with the ringwraiths. They didn't just fly past or easily destroy them.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:05 PM
Well, Ulmo interfered at the end of the First Age when he saved Elwing with the Silmaril in her possession. He could've just said "Oops, I hope that washes back up on shore for some random Elf to find and sail West with."
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:05 PM
Well, they aided the free people in their battles, both at the gates and at Erebor. But perhaps they were not supposed to do their work for them like that... could be a line they weren't allowed to cross.
VardaToday at 5:06 PM
Then there's the "reek" as Sauron-Valar is commenting on this side of the screen.
Lots of ranged weaponry, not just bows.
Eagles would be extremely visible.
ArienValarToday at 5:06 PM
they had these catapults didnt they and  crossbows?
VardaToday at 5:07 PM
Sauron-Valar comments that the One Ring could have a strong influence over a birdbrain. And they might fight between themselves over it on top of that.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:07 PM
I tend to think, in-universe, there's got to be better reasons than the "Angels in the Outfield"-esque "We can help you cheat all the way to the final game, but you gotta win that one yourself."
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:08 PM
Oh, there's a point. They might not want to get near the Ríng.
..without accent
VardaToday at 5:08 PM
Like Gandalf and other Powers, they know not to touch the One Ring.
The Pinions of Manwe, heh.
./duck
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:09 PM
Did Sauron's power lock them out from Mordor's airspace somehow? A field of influence?
VardaToday at 5:09 PM
Many types of power there, the reek not the least.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:10 PM
Perhaps a bigger question is not, why didn't they use the eagles, but, why didn't they even discuss the possibility? :slight_smile:
What did the people at the meeting know?
VardaToday at 5:10 PM
Not just a smog.
The people at the meeting included Elrond and Gandalf who knew better too.
ArienValarToday at 5:11 PM
and our heroes wouldn t have  a chance to develop into real heroes and grow in personality
at least the hobbits
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:11 PM
In-universe I don't think that counts :wink:
VardaToday at 5:11 PM
Gandalf was along too, even after the defenses were shot.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:12 PM
"We could use the eagles! Get there quicker, be at less risk of failing, and saving a lot of lives that might be lost in the meantime." "Yeaaaahhhh... but Pippin needs to grow up."
VardaToday at 5:12 PM
The Great Eagles don't seem numerous, either, and losses of even a few could have been horrendous.
And just who is going to be willing to "drop the Ring into the fire"?
No one that carries the One Ring can destroy it.
Not willingly.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:13 PM
Place the ring in a bag on an eagle's back. Have him turn around mid-air.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:13 PM
Tom Bombadil.
Obviously you swing by the Old Forest to pick him up if you're risking a flight on an eagle's back anyway.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:13 PM
Turn over, I mean.
VardaToday at 5:13 PM
Intriguing. But he was quickly dismissed as not really able to see the need.
ArienValarToday at 5:14 PM
*he just would put it somewhere and forget about it" . he would be a most unsafe guardian
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:14 PM
Yeah, but we'd just be asking him to toss it into a pool of lava. I think we can convince him to do that.
VardaToday at 5:14 PM
And he did not have his great power outside his land.
ArienValarToday at 5:14 PM
Well Aragorn was convinced he wouldnt leave his land Eonwe
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:15 PM
He didn't have influence on anything outside his land, but he wa sstill him.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:15 PM
Could invite him on a nice flight. Just ask him to do one small thing on the way.
ArienValarToday at 5:15 PM
he d just stop on the rfoad and did not cross a certain line leading the hobbits towards Bree
VardaToday at 5:15 PM
He was no master of the ringwraiths that would come at them, outside his land
He was no weather master, to handle the magic reek
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:18 PM
Well the darkness didn't really happen until Sauron launched the Siege of Minas Tirith, so it may not have been ready with the timeline we're talking about.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:20 PM
All through this topic I've been trying to find the meme/gif of the council discussing the eagles and ultimately plopping it in but all I can find is the other 2 in the series, including the catapult.
VardaToday at 5:20 PM
: )
The weather master part is "In the House of Tom Bombadil". Still looking for the other in this book.
Didn't Sauron have a reek over his land, partly like Morgoth to keep out the lights of the heavens? This was before sending it against the outside.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:22 PM
I think the How it Should Have Ended on either FotR or RotK does that as one of the endings.
VardaToday at 5:22 PM
Aye, believe that's true, Eonwe : )
ArienValarToday at 5:23 PM
Well be that as it may i think it wouldn't have quite made the story we all have come to love :slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:24 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqVD0swvWU
YouTube
How It Should Have Ended
How Lord of The Rings Should Have Ended

Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:24 PM
We don't know that.
It might just be shorter!
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:25 PM
But Faramir wouldn't have had the chance to show his quality!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:25 PM
They could've landed there and he might've offered them food!
VardaToday at 5:26 PM
Ok, here's one quote from the "Council of Elrond".
"...the Ring has no power over him. He is his own master. But he cannot alter the Ring itself, nor break its power over others. And now he is withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can see them, waiting perhaps for a change of days, and he will not step beyond them."
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:28 PM
Step!
But what about fly?
VardaToday at 5:28 PM
So he could not prevent the Ring from affecting the Eagles.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:28 PM
True.
VardaToday at 5:30 PM
"Could that power (Sauron's) be defied by Bombadil alone? I think not. I think that in the end, if all else is conquered, Bombadil will fall, Last as he was First; and then Night will come."
"Power to defy our Enemy is not in him, unless such power is in the very earth itself. And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy the very hills."
Eonwe, go ahead. : )
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:31 PM
I'll tell you what, I'll make this real easy. We know he's willing to go to the Barrow Downs. We just get him to walk out to the top of a hill out there, point  and say "Look over there!" and before he knows it an eagle will have scooped him up. We then pass him the ring on a chain, tell him if he wants to go home he has to drop this from the sky into Mount Doom, and then we're done. Perfectly ethical!
VardaToday at 5:31 PM
hehe
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:32 PM
Sounds good to me.
ArienValarToday at 5:32 PM
Alas ^^
VardaToday at 5:32 PM
Who passes the Ring to him?
Frodo did at his house, so ok.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:32 PM
The other person we have hanging in the clutches of an eagle.
VardaToday at 5:32 PM
hahaha
The ringwraiths will feel the coming of the One Ring, will they not? They had to be lured  away.
ArienValarToday at 5:33 PM
Frodo sitting on top of Old man Willow .. we could always say Tom has to take the eagle to get him down from there
VardaToday at 5:33 PM
The One Ring drew them.
ArienValarToday at 5:34 PM
Make them believe someone else has it nod
makes sense
VardaToday at 5:34 PM
Aragorn showed himself in the Palantir for that reason.
ArienValarToday at 5:34 PM
yup
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:35 PM
So now they need a Palantir first.
VardaToday at 5:35 PM
The Eagles then take the One Ring to their home. Tom can sit there with them and forget about the Ring promptly.
How do we keep the Eagles from taking it?
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:36 PM
Even better, let Tom Bombadil show himself to Sauron in the Palantir. Let Sauron figure that one out!
VardaToday at 5:36 PM
Delightful. : )
ArienValarToday at 5:37 PM
chuckles
VardaToday at 5:37 PM
But Sauron would send his forces against Tom's home and would destroy it.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:37 PM
I can see him now, smiling and waving and singing to Sauron's eye...
VardaToday at 5:37 PM
We can dance!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:37 PM
:smile:
VardaToday at 5:37 PM
That was a fun video. : )
The Eagles simply could not pass through a fortified Mordor with Sauron and his minions defending it.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:39 PM
Yeah.
VardaToday at 5:39 PM
They only went after the place was wrecked.
and even then, they had Gandalf with them.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:40 PM
Let's not forget Sam and Frodo snuck in a relatively unguarded pass, where no one was expected to try and get through because of the giant spider who lived there. If Sauron didn't think Shelob would take out any intruders that way, they would've had a rougher time than they already did.
Going through, or over, the front gate was not an option.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:41 PM
They'll need to dig under.
VardaToday at 5:42 PM
That's why they took hobbits and a dwarf?
And besides Shelob, there were many orcs.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:43 PM
Probably got orcs dug through all those mountains like ants.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:43 PM
They really had a lot of orcs.
So many thrown at Minas Tirith, and still so many left to patrol and to gather at the black gate.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:45 PM
Aye.
ArienValarToday at 5:45 PM
conveniently the orcs took themselves out hah
in the tower
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:46 PM
Ah yes, that's why you need so many, friendly fire!
ArienValarToday at 5:47 PM
Ah well that was fun :slight_smile: thanks for going with this :slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:48 PM
:}
VardaToday at 5:48 PM
We had fun with it. : )
I have not yet located the spot about Tom and the ringwraiths, hoping to find it eventually.
But meanwhile...
the gavel walks towards the gavel but is reading a book at the same time, not paying proper attention
the hammerpad slides forward a bit
whomp!
pages flutter but the gavel desperately finds his place in the book again
the hammerpad guides it back to the shelf, peeking at the words

After-meeting!
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:51 PM
If you want to see where we are for Achievements on Lothar:  https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/guild/us/lothar/valar-guild/achievements/general
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:51 PM
If you want to see where we are for Achievements on Lothar:  https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/guild/us/lothar/valar-guild/achievements/general
And on Uldaman, in the chance you want to play Horde: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/guild/us/uldaman/valar-guild/achievements/general
World of Warcraft
Valar Guild - Guild Achievements - WoW
Achievements earned by the Horde guild 'Valar Guild' on Uldaman - US

VardaToday at 5:52 PM
I like the line Elrond uses at the Council: "For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so."
Thanks, Eonwe.
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:52 PM
If we get 1 of every race/class combo to 120, we get our last bank tab :}
ArienValarToday at 5:52 PM
Can i hand in some late gaming news ?
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:52 PM
Always time for news :slight_smile:
ArienValarToday at 5:53 PM
I almost forgot to mention that :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 5:53 PM
Fire away. : )
ArienValarToday at 5:54 PM
Yesterday Irmo, Miriel and Hurin helped my hobbit minstrel with a sad spirit in Tham Some or Other near the fields of fornost :slight_smile:
on Landroval
theres some screenies in the screenshot channel :slight_smile:
That is what i wanted to mention :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 5:55 PM
Thank you!
ArienValarToday at 5:56 PM
Tham Lorn i think
VardaToday at 5:56 PM
The music that wakes the Dead!
Also, found the spot where Tom talks about ringwraiths.
It's neara the end of "Fog on the Barrow-downs"
Tom is speaking.
"Out east my knowledge fails. Tom is not master of Riders from the Black Land far beyond his country."
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:59 PM
Convenient that they didn't chase the Ring into the Old Forest then :slight_smile:
Right, playing a Storm match, will check up later :wink:
VardaToday at 6:00 PM
Namarie : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:00 PM
Will remain here!
And give gaming report when done.
Eonwe ValarToday at 6:01 PM
Have fun :}
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:01 PM
thanks :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 6:01 PM
Good fortune!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:01 PM
also thanks!
VardaToday at 6:01 PM
And anyone that can drop into Lothar, please feel free to help out Eonwe with the achievements!
Eonwe ValarToday at 6:02 PM
Yeah, he couldn't stop them like he can Old Man Willow, but that's what the convocation of eagles accompanying the Ring would be for :}
VardaToday at 6:03 PM
The eagles had enough trouble with the ringwraiths over Aragorn's army.
Be interesting to ride one during a dogfight, too. Bet Tom could handle it though.
ArienValarToday at 6:04 PM
Sure he d be able to :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 6:04 PM
The Eagles would have a hard time not being corrupted by the Ring though.
Eonwe ValarToday at 6:04 PM
If anyone can :}
VardaToday at 6:05 PM
Slipping past the Eye was Frodo's big trick.
ArienValarToday at 6:05 PM
well bed time for me here because i think Pillows is about all i can handle right now :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 6:05 PM
yay pillows!
Eonwe ValarToday at 6:05 PM
Sleep well Arien :}
VardaToday at 6:05 PM
I need to go help with supper. Something smells as if it is getting pretty hot.
Eonwe ValarToday at 6:05 PM
Sup well :}
VardaToday at 6:06 PM
The sun must sleep so that night may give rest.
ArienValarToday at 6:06 PM
you have a great remaining day and rest well when you get to it :slight_smile:
Namarie for now :slight_smile:
VardaToday at 6:06 PM
Only 6 pm here. ; ) And thanks!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:14 PM
Namarie Arien!
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Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:23 PM
Purrrsonal gaming report!

Flashgaming: 2 old games and a new this week :slight_smile:

https://www.kongregate.com/games/KaMiZoTo_Creator/there-is-no-game is the first game! ..Or is it?
    Kongregate
    There is no game
    *NEWS : If you liked this non-game, go check out the steam page of quotThere is no game : wrong dimensionquot. (coming soon this summer)
    You can support us and add...
A funny point and click puzzle game guided by an AI who insists there's no game... prove him wrong!

Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:39 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/Arkuni/versus-umbra is the second game.. one I played long ago and still remember enjoying :slight_smile:
    Kongregate
    Versus Umbra
    Fight hordes of enemies.
    Collect Inventium and loot.
    Craft crazy weapons, impractical armor and improbable gadgets.
    Level up your character and pick from a wid...
An action/shooter game with many levels, and a lot of perks, weapons and other upgrades to gather. Can be a bit of a grind, but a grind I liked.

Some really weird stuff to unlock!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:06 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/Ferociter/trial-of-temptation is the third game, and the one I hadn't played yet :slight_smile:
    Kongregate
    Trial of Temptation
    Tales tell of the mythical Shrine of Fate, which resides at the bottom of the Steps of Determination, leading towards the Gong of Truth. However, those tales a...
A sort of interactive fiction platformer, wherein you are charged with carrying the Golden Mallet of Enlightenment through the Trial of Temptation and hitting the Gong of Truth up on the mountain.
There are 10 endings to be unlocked, depending on your actions and choices, so see how many you can find!
The endings are quite funny, so enjoy :slight_smile:
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Blizzard gaming:
Heroes of the Storm:
3 levels gained, from 400 to 403! Leoric to 3 through a brawl (which I'm still not quite good at), Nazeebo to level 15, the golden level, which I then replaced as Diablo Assassin with Azmodan, who I got to level 2.
Azmodan is a bit weird, with giant fireballs to throw and smaller demons to summon, so basically it's about hitting stuff from afar and putting up a meatshield in front of you when the enemy gets close.
There's a short range channeled damage ability too which I can't really get the hang of, it just seems a waste of mana for the small amount of damage it does unless you can stay within range which is generally a bad idea.
Though you can do various other things during the channel, which I need to get the hang of.
Anyway, the globe throwing ability is a nice one to base your spec around, since there are ways to permanently upgrade it through hitting stuff with it, and there are a lot of talents based around buffing the upgrading.
Even made MVP with it once today :wink:
Hearthstone:
Up to 110 packs to unpack now, it's just so daunting to get around to it...
Don't think I've hit 3 figures beforfe.
Some bit more demon hunter playing, got him to level 22 now, getting my first golden class ability :slight_smile:
It's one that summons minions, too, which means golden minions!
Brawl is an Easter/Noblegarden brawl, with different boombots in your deck disguised as eggs. Quite funny. Played a priest, which allowed me to actually buff the eggs/bombs, and with a bit of luck managed to win my first game :slight_smile:
WoW:
Might as well start with the news that probably should've been in general gaming but I can't see it right now (if it's there, sorry Eonwe!), which is that it's Noblegarden there as well!
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:27 PM
No, I didn't mention it.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:28 PM
Unfortunately there is nothing new to be gained, so I'm not really bothering with it :wink:
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:28 PM
I should've.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:29 PM
Raiding: Success!
We got N'Zoth down on heroic difficulty, and unlocked our voidwing drake mounts in the process.
Small margins of error, but we got the sanity mechanics of earlier phases under control, had some luck with the mindgate phases, and blasted our way through phase 3, which is basically a soft enrage as more and more adds spawn.
Our planned last try, we got him to about 4%, but since we'd gotten so close we gave it one more shot... and got to 2%, at which point the cutscene plays, the fight is won, the achievement is got, and the loot including mount is gotten!
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:31 PM
Also should've mentioned bonus event for this week and next.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:32 PM
From said loot I got the shoulders I wanted and a ring with a great corruption, which now pretty much puts me at my perfect guardian gear overall until I get some more resistance and maybe some heroic corrupted pieces.
Ah, yes :slight_smile:
Anyway, this was the last boss for our progress, we haven't tried mythic since 2 expansions ago, and that didn't go well either.
Now we'll keep the heroic bosses on farm for the rest of the expansion, get some more people their mount and spread out a lot of loot, and maybe even get some achievements if we're bored!
Oh, yes, and part of that perfect gear is the two Ra-Den trinkets, which I happened to get from the same kill this week, 1 from the normal loot and one from the bonus seal. Very lucky!
Did our first few runs with that horrific vision group, we got all the way up to 4 masks, and I got the Void-scarred Pup as pet as well :slight_smile:
Tried 5 masks too, but some people had to leave and there were some bad calls in the run so we didn't get far.
More practice needed!
Other than the Voidwing, 3 more mounts got, so pretty lucky:
The Rajani Warserpent through the rare mob Rei Lun in the Mogu Assault, the Craghorn Chasm-Leaper from an expedition salvage box (don't ask me how it fit in the box) and an Umber Nightsaber from a rare in Darkshore!
Model is a normal nightsaber for that last one, but the colorscheme is quite unique.
Weekly this week is battlegrounds, and after finding out I only need the chestpiece from the gladiator fight to complete the set, I set out to do them strategically to collect the most conquest. By taking the brawl and then spreading the other 3 battlegrounds over 3 days, I got conquest this week and only need about 1000 more for the chest. Plenty of time for that still, but I'll make sure to do a similar spread for future pvp weeklies :slight_smile:
*I got 220 conquest this week, sorry
Between trying to win battlegrounds, trying to catch up a bit on wowhead and other small daily/weekly stuff in WoW I didn't have time for other projects though. But I'm sure I will soon :slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:45 PM
:}
Trying to get the necessary Shreds of Insanity is putting me through alot of PvP, but my collecting from HKs seems to have run dry at 140 Shreds.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:46 PM
Yikes. Getting much conquest though? :wink:
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:47 PM
Only when I win, which isn't much on Alliance, heh.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:47 PM
hehe
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:47 PM
or if I get lucky and get one of the items in Ashran that gives conquest for turning in.
I managed to qualify for a chest this week, which makes me hope I didn't miss one for last week.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:48 PM
Ah yes, Ashran. I've been doing the smaller battlegrounds myself, since it's pretty good going for bearspec in there.
Good for carrying flags and defending bases.
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:48 PM
It was great for getting me HKs while I was getting Shreds for HKs. Now it's eh.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:49 PM
As for the conquest chests, you can catch up with them when you fall behind. If you can't get a new one, you know you're caught up :slight_smile:
But that requires a lot of extra conquest of course.
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:49 PM
We don't win enough for me to get thrilled by any battleground unless I'm getting something out of it, heh.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:50 PM
Well, I needed to win them for weekly :wink: Though honor's good too, I think I got to 65 or 66 this week.
And being bearform just helps contribute to winning!
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:50 PM
I'm trying to collect Bloody Coins when I can too, only at 34/500 needed for the mount, heh.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:51 PM
Heh. I think I gave up on that somewhere at the end of Pandaria, though I did get all the stuff from the Legion version.
Might get back to it.. if I ever have nothing else to do :slight_smile:
Anyway, that's it for blizz gaming.

For Total Annihilation
I'll say I've now completed the Core campaign, and got started on the Arm campaign. Once again the earlier levels are going smoother than I remember.

Eonwe ValarToday at 7:53 PM
Yeah, not a high priority for me either, but I've got Shreds of Insanity to collect, and eventual Honor lvl 80 for the artifact skin.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:53 PM
I know level 5 used to give me trouble, but with my new tactics of spamming missile vehicles and using whatever fast scout I can find to patrol the line of sight, it's still going well.
Ah, right, you can get the coins during battlegrounds then?

Should look into that.
Anyway, then came level 7... an annoying naval defensive mission, with no airforce yet at my disposal. Was a bit annoying, but I got some aerial defenses up against their planes and managed to crank out my own fleet fast enough.

Eonwe ValarToday at 7:55 PM
Yeah, from the candle version that sits in your inv.

Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:55 PM
Only the last wave gave me trouble. Got shredded pretty hard, and might've still made it with my vehicles... if I'd known it was going to be the last wave.
As it was, I reloaded to a bit earlier and started bombarding their position from afar before they could move in, which just got me the naval victory there and surprisingly gave me victory :smile:

Ah, not sure I have that.
But it's good to know!
I think I got the porcupette pet and then stopped going for the coins.
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:57 PM
Guess I have to get enough for that after the mount, heh.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:58 PM
a lot cheaper though :wink:
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:58 PM
Just wish it didn't have to be KBs.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 7:58 PM
Oh, yes, that's a problem. Should probably not go bear for that...
Would using it in arena give you a better chance?
just some random arena skirmishes?
Eonwe ValarToday at 7:59 PM
Don't know.
10 min cooldown, drops off on death.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 8:00 PM
Hrrm. I don't suppose it gets reset.
Eonwe ValarToday at 8:01 PM
Nope, gotta wait for the cooldown to recast.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 8:01 PM
Not sure how to handle that... use it, queue up, die, wait for it to fall off while you do something else? Or queue up and hope it's up before you get in :slight_smile:
Yeah, but some trinkets and stuff get reset in arenas.
Even the firecat toy does.
Eonwe ValarToday at 8:02 PM
Don't do arenas, so couldn't tell you if that'll work.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 8:02 PM
Hmhm.
Maybe I could sneak some kills as cat :slight_smile:
in a battleground, that is
anyway, in TA, I'm at level 8 now, so going well enough!
And that's my report for the week :slight_smile:
Eonwe ValarToday at 8:03 PM
Congrats :}
I'm looking at needing between 25 and 46 more BG victories for the Shreds of Insanity,.. so about 250 more matches, lol.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 8:10 PM
Ouch :stuck_out_tongue:
Eonwe ValarToday at 8:10 PM
Unless the Alliance goes on a serious winning streak while I'm trying to get these.
Or I get a random invite to kill 5 mythic raid bosses, which is about as likely :}
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 8:12 PM
hehe

Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 8:20 PM
namarie!
VardaToday at 8:21 PM
Back.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 8:21 PM
Aiyata
and goodnight!
Eonwe ValarToday at 8:22 PM
Sleep well ;}
VardaToday at 8:23 PM
Namarie : )


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